Ain't No Mountain High Enough
by ShadowRascal
Summary: The last place anyone expects to find their long-lost daughter is on a bus at 1 in the morning. It's just their luck, he supposes, that they had to lose her more than once. AU; Baze and Cate are married and have another daughter. When they find the daughter they gave up years ago, they struggle to find her a place in the family too.
1. Misadventures on a Bus

**Cate's POV**

"Good morning Portland! Welcome to Morning Madness. The time is 6:23, and if you're just waking up," Cate paused for emphasis. "Screw you. Ryan and I have been up since five."

"And as usual, arguing since then." Ryan smirked at his co-host. "Today we are discussing… drumroll please…high school sweethearts."

"Uh, why does it always have to be about high school?" Cate grimaced playfully at Ryan and spoke into the microphone. " _Everyone_ knows I hated high school. What about you, Ryan? Who was the _lucky_ girl who was together with you in the best years of your life?"

"Nice girl name Allison. Hey, Allison, if you're listening, I never did get those scorch marks out of the sweatshirt you burned in my front yard when I broke up with you. But, no hard feelings girl." He chuckled. "Alright, taking listener calls."

"Hi…Mina? What's your high school sweetheart story?" Cate picked up the conversation.

—

 **Baze's POV**

"Taylor? Honey, you home?"

"I'm here, Dad!" Baze dropped his briefcase in the kitchen and followed his daughter's voice to the living room. Morning Madness reruns were blaring through the radio while she sat on the couch typing furiously on her computer.

"Hey, Tay. Where's mom?"

"She went to the grocery store. I would have gone with her but I needed to work on this project."

"Oh, is that what you're doing?" Baze peeked over her shoulder, one eyebrow raised. "'Cuz it _looks_ like you're writing an email to… wait. Who the hell is Alex?"

"Da-ad!" Taylor groaned. "It's just a guy!"

"A _guy?"_ Baze ran his hand through his hair. "Nuh-uh. Nope. You don't talk to guys."

Taylor laughed. "You're so funny, Dad."

"Yeah, I'm a hoot. Now go work on your project, bunny."

Baze watched her with soft eyes as she packed up her computer and stomped playfully up to her room. "No boys!" He yelled up at her as an afterthought. "I'm serious!"

His phone rang and he picked it up without looking at the caller. "Hello?"

"Hey, Baze," Cate's voice rang through. "Are you home?"

"Yeah, I just got here. What's up?"

There was silence on the other side of the phone.

"Cate?"

"I need to talk to you." She said finally, sounding tearful, and Baze immediately straightened and paced the length of the room.

"Hey, what is it?" He tried to sound comforting, but without knowing the situation he couldn't think what to say. "Are you okay?"

She drew in a shaky breath. "Yeah, it's just… I was looking at the calendar to see what day Tay's dance recital was, and I realized that today is the 17 of September."

A thought nagged at the back of Baze's head but he pushed it away, not willing to think about what he was sure she was referring to. "Aaand?"

"Oh, come one Baze, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Today is _her_ … birthday."

"Yeah," Baze sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. I've just been trying not to think about it."

"Me too. But, uh, listen, Baze. She's, uh, sixteen today."

Baze swallowed. He knew what his wife was talking about, but he didn't think he could face it. "Look, Cate, I know we promised ourselves we would check but… but she probably has a life and we can't just go barging in when we gave her up-"

"She is the same age we were when we had her! I need to make sure she's okay. I need to- I need to see that we did the right thing." Her voice was agonized, guilty, and even though Baze had his reservations, he understood completely what she was feeling.

"I guess… I guess we could check in with Social Services, just see how she's doing…" He trailed off, not knowing what else to say. It had been sixteen years, sixteen years since he had made the hardest decision of his life, sixteen years and 5696 days of wondering if she was okay.

"Okay," Cate sighed deeply. "I'm on my way home, will you ask Tay to come out and help me with the groceries?" Baze frowned slightly at the change of subject, but he said goodbye to his wife and hung up the phone.

His firstborn daughter was 16 today. Baze didn't know how to feel.

—

 **Lux's POV**

"I learned it really early on," Cate said. "The only person you can trust is yourself. Otherwise, you're just setting yourself up for heartbreak." Lux nodded as she mindlessly stared out of the bus window, Portland passing by. With every mile the bus advanced, she found herself dreading more and more her arrival at the house she'd been calling "home" for the past two months. Her eighth foster home was nowhere near the worst, but she never felt safe taking a shower with her perverted foster brother Stewie lurking around trying to catch a glimpse. Plus, with the amount of cigarette smoke floating around the ratty house, Lux was sure she'd catch lung cancer from second hand smoke inhalation.

At least Mira Foster didn't give her a curfew. If Lux came home any later than 12 am, she'd catch her Foster mother snoring on the couch, her freak of a son too busy playing stolen video games in his room to be concerned with her late reentry. That gave Lux plenty of time to hang out with her real family; Tasha, Bug, and Gavin. Those three had been with her through thick and thin, and now, on the rare occasion that both Tasha and Lux were in different foster homes at the same time, it was harder to find some family-time.

"Hey, is this seat taken?" Lux was shaken out of her reverie when a voice penetrated her bubble.

"Uh, what?"

The guy looked at her like she had grown an extra eye. "This seat," He pointed to the empty seat next to Lux. She didn't really want him to sit there, but she didn't want to be rude.

"Go ahead."

"Thanks," The man sat down heavily, setting two plastic bags on the floor, and looked at her.

After a few uncomfortable seconds she snapped. "What?"

"Sorry," He stammered. "You… Do I know you from somewhere?"

She eyed him. Clean pressed shirt, grey suit, shined loafers. Definitely not from her world. "Nope, sorry," She said, making sure to add in a little attitude for good measure.

"Oh." Lux was surprised to see that he looked sad for a moment. His bluish-grey eyes stared at the floor for a minute before he straightened and extended his hand for her to shake. "My name is Baze."

She took his hand reluctantly, surprised at the change of pace and gave it a little shake before pulling back. "Lux."

"Cool name."

The silence almost became unbearable. She tried to focus on the Morning Madness episode, one she had recorded from a few months ago, but couldn't. The guy was just making her uncomfortable. She sighed.

—

 **Baze's POV**

Baze didn't know what came over him. He didn't make a habit of introducing himself to strange teenage girls on the bus, especially ones who seemed so uncomfortable with his presence. There was just something about this one… despite the blonde hair there was something about her posture, unusually straight yet simultaneously slightly intimidated, like she was pretending to braver than she was…it was Cate's exact posture when she was faced with a difficult situation. Even the girl's snark and attitude reminded him a little of his wife. He suddenly found himself overwhelmingly curious about this girl… Lux. He knew there was no way it was his… daughter (He still had trouble thinking about it, but he knew that her birthday had him imagining things)… but why was she alone on a bus at 1 o'clock? He could tell she was nervous by the way she kept rubbing her thumb and forefinger together comfortingly.

"So, where you headed?" He tried to make his tone light and nonchalant, but when her eyes widened slightly and she scooted away a little, he realized what a creep he sounded like. "Sorry, that sounded creepier than I meant it to be." She didn't answer, and he decided he would keep up the conversation, even if it ended up being one-sided. "My wife sent me to buy ingredients for breakfast tomorrow and my car wouldn't start," He confided. "She works really early so I had to do it now."

There was silence for a few more moments and then a small voice answered him, "What's your wife's job?"

He smiled inwardly at his success. "She's a radio show host. She's, uh, Cate from Morning Madness. You know it?"

He was surprised when her eyes lighted up and she opened her mouth excitedly. "Do I _know_ it? I listen to it every morning!"

"That's cool! Do you-" Baze's question was cut short when a short announcement blared through the intercom declaring their impending arrival at a station.

Lux stood up. "This is my stop," she said quietly. Baze stood up quickly to let her pass.

As she stood silently in the small walkway waiting for the bus to stop completely, a tall, tanned man stood up to stand behind her. After a few moments, Lux stiffened. Baze watched, a little worried, as she whirled around, crossing her arms furiously. "If you want to walk away with that hand, I suggest you keep it _away_ from my butt," Her voice was loud enough for the whole bus to hear, and many people turned to glare at the guy. He held his hands up in surrender, and Baze could swear he saw a little glimmer of pride on Lux's face before she was swept with the crowd and walked of the bus, her head held high.

Baze leaned back heavily into the seat, impressed but also somehow feeling like he had been run over with a bulldozer. Who the hell was this girl?

—

 **Cate's POV**

Cate cleared her throat as she walked bleary-eyed into the kitchen, careful not to wake her husband and daughter. Even after two years of the same job, she still wasn't a morning person, especially when it was 5 and she had to get ready for work. She smiled as she saw that Baze had indeed gone out and bought her favorite cereal last night, and had left her a note with a single sentence scrawled on it: _Made appointment with Social Services for today at 3 love Baze._

Cate smiled a little, her heart fluttering with excitement. Ever since she had given up her baby girl 16 years ago, she couldn't stop thinking about her. Finally they could check that they had done the right thing.

The morning commute was screwy, but no more than usual. She smirked at her co-host and best friend Ryan as she sat in her chair. They had dated for a few months before she got together again with Baze, but in the end they had both decided that they were much better off as friends.

"Good morning Portland!" Ryan started off with his spiel, and even as Cate talked into the microphone she was only half aware that she was even talking, her mind was focused on the Social Services meeting that she had with her husband at three. "Alright, we gotta go to commercial break, but we'll continue this in a few minutes!" Ryan finished, and the moment they were clear he flung his headphones off and scooted closer to his co-host. "Okay, Cate, you tell me what's going on!" He demanded.

"What, nothing!" Cate protested.

"Please, spare me. You were like a robot out there."

Reluctantly, Cate told him the whole story, from the back of Baze's car during Winter Formal, to that day at the hospital where the two sixteen-year-old's signed away their parental rights and gave their little girl to Social Services, to the impending meeting with a case worker. Ryan was a good listener. He didn't interrupt once, and set a comforting hand on her shoulder when she choked up. There was no judgement in his gaze, and just that simple acceptance was enough to almost make Cate crack and break down sobbing. But she wouldn't let herself.

The rest of the show went quickly, with Ryan covering her each time she spaced out she allowed herself to give up even less brain power for the show. By the time it was over, she had thoroughly psyched herself out and was almost trembling with anticipation.

She met her husband at a coffee shop near the Social Services building. "We have an hour until Tay gets home from school," She reminded him and he nods comfortingly, rubbing her shoulders.

—

 **Fern's POV**

Fern sighed as she shuffled some papers and then looked up at the hopeful couple in front of her. This was… unusual to say the least. Birth parents wanting to just " _check in"_ on a child they had given up for adoption more than ten years ago? Forget unusual, this _never_ happened. She was totally unequipped for this type of situation, but she knew what she had to do. "I'm sorry, you guys," She said, trying to look remorseful. "You guys gave up all your parental rights when you gave her up for adoption. I can't give away any of her information to you."

The mom leaned forward. What was her name? Cate? "But… we just want to know if she's okay… did she get adopted?" There was a tinge of desperation in her voice and Fern would have felt sorry for her if she had not been asking for Fern to do something that would get her fired.

Fern shook her head. "The only person who has the authority to tell you that is Lu- your daughter. And to be honest, I am not going to tell her about you."

Baze looked shocked. "Why not? Doesn't she deserve to know?"

"Does she deserve to know that the two people who gave her up, who didn't want her, suddenly need to know what happened to her after sixteen years? Probably, but I think that would cause more harm than good. Kids who have been given up for adoption have major abandonment issues. If she chooses to contact you, that's fine, but I won't be involved." Fern stood up, suddenly feeling weary after a long day. "I'm going to get some coffee. Would you two like anything?" As the couple shook their heads, she exited the room quickly, thinking of Lux.

Her charge of 4 months was difficult, but not for lack of trying. Fern had tried, she had, to give Lux good homes but it was difficult to place a teenager. She didn't know exactly what the other case workers had done for the girl, but she could sense that Lux had been through much more than she let on.

If she was completely honest with herself, she wished she could tell Cate and Baze everything. They had been sixteen, could anyone blame them for their decision? But her focus was Lux, and she knew that this new development was likely to traumatize the girl as much as comfort her. Fern was not prepared to take that chance.

—

 **Cate's POV**

The moment Fern left the room Baze stood up and strode to the large metal file cabinet in the corner. "Keep watch," He said as he rifled through the files. "She took the last name 'Cassidy', right?"

"Yeah," Cate agreed, before straightening up. "Baze, we can't look at her file! That's a felony!"

His eyes were fierce as he grabbed a file. "Do you want to find our daughter or not?" He grabbed his phone and took a hurried picture of each page.

Cate heard the clickety-clack of high heels against tiles and whisper-screamed, "She's coming back!"

Baze stuffed the file back and took a seat next to her just as Fern opened the door and walked in.

Cate leaned forward, "Please," She held her hands out together. "Please, just her name."

The case worker sighed as she sat down. "Her name is… Lux." Taking note of the confused faces in front of her she smile a little. "It means 'light' in Latin. A nurse named her that because she's blond and you two have dark hair."

Cate glanced at her husband. "Lux." She sighed, letting out a long breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Baze looked shell-shocked, but she didn't know whether it was because of the name revelation or the fact that he had just committed a felony.

It didn't matter.

Her daughter had a name.

Lux.

—

 **Baze's POV**

The car ride home was silent.

Her name rang throughout his head.

Lux Lux Lux Lux Lux Lux Lux Lux-

"She's blonde," His wife sounded like she was holding back tears.

A blonde Lux. His mind flashed back to the feisty girl on the bus the last night. Could it…?

"Hey, I've got to tell you something," He spoke softly to Cate. She turned to him expectantly, and as they passed through traffic he told her his little bus adventure, and about the mysterious blonde girl who loved Morning Madness and had deflected the attention of the tall man. The girl who's name was Lux.

When he was done they were quiet. "What did you get on your phone?" She reminded him, and he pulled out his phone to check the pictures. The words on the pages were blurry, proof of his haste, but the small picture in the corner was unmistakable.

"It's her," Baze choked out. "Oh my god. Cate— I sat next to our daughter on the bus."

Cate let out a choked sob and covered her mouth with one hand while steering expertly with the other. "How was she? Was she okay?"

"Yeah, I guess she seemed fine." he scrolled through the pictures again and his eyes lit up on a small section of text that was still legible. It was a list of names… "Cate, honey," He didn't know how to tell her.

"What?" She sounded panicked.

"She was never adopted." Cate stared at him with wide, scared eyes. "She's been in foster care for 16 years."

His daughter. Foster care. The last place anyone expects to find their long-lost daughter is on a bus at 1 in the morning. It's just their luck, he supposes, that they had to lose her more than once.

They had made the wrong choice the first time around.

They would fix it.


	2. Second Chances

**Hey guys. So, first and foremost, I own nothing. (I forgot to do it last time, so here it is.)**

 **Some background: After the giving up of Lux, Baze and Cate finally got married and had daughter 4 years later; Taylor. When she was born deaf in one ear, Baze became an audiologist… Just a note, I have no idea how the foster system works. So, sorry about any misinformation I might base my writing off of.**

 **Uhh, yeah. That's it. Enjoy!**

 **Oh, and Bug and Lux aren't together together in this story. And their apartment is much cooler. And also, Lux has her court date a few months after her birthday, not days, and Tasha has a better chance of getting emancipated than Lux.**

 **Okay, I'm done.**

 **Hope you like :)**

* * *

Baze's POV

""No. No Baze. Absolutely not." Cate looked furious; or maybe she was just holding back tears. "You heard what Fern said-"

"Cate, you haven't met her. I sat next to her. She talked to me. I- I- I…" He stuttered, not able to express his anguish at the chance he had narrowly missed. "She was on the bus, at one in the morning, all alone. Sh-she was all alone, Cate. We need to meet her, to talk to her. She… she deserves to know."

"Cate's eyes were brimming now, and she tightened her grip on the steering wheel as she swung into the driveway. "I know, Baze. I understand- I feel like that too. I just—" Cate took a deep breath. "I can't risk it. What if she finally found a real new family? And— what about Taylor? How are we going to explain a new older sister to Taylor?"

Baze ran a hand through his hair, completely thrown. "Don't you get it, Cate? This isn't about me, or you, or Taylor. This is about Lux, for Lux. She deserves to know that we didn't give her up because we didn't love her."

Cate forcefully opened her car door. "We'll talk about this later, Baze." She slammed the door shut and stalked acidly to the door. Baze fervently followed her.

"Cate, just list-" She spun around and stared at him, her eyes pleading for him to let her be.

"Baze. Please. Not now." Cate ran a hand over her face. "I just- let me process this, okay? You've had a day more than I have, and I just haven't processed it yet."

Baze stepped back, his hands raised in surrender. "Alright. But, we are talking about it, okay?"

She nodded, and unlocked the door. As they stepped in, he glanced at his watch. They still had 20 minutes until Taylor returned home. He sat heavily on the couch and brought out his phone, flipping through the pictures he took in Fern's office. He stopped at a page, the contents making him sigh heavily. It was filled with pictures— 16 to be exact.

The first three seemed to be in a hospital; there was a cannula in her nose and an IV in the crook of her tiny arm. In the third, there was an angry red scar on the left side of her chest, which she was pointing to and grinning. There were multiple gaps in her teeth.  
The next 13 pictures were were obviously staged; she had loose blonde pigtails hanging down to her shoulders in one and a tiny croquet beanie perched on her curls in another. She was smiling, but with every picture it grew increasingly obvious that the grin was fake. He brought the paper closer to his face as if it would help him see into her. After the 11th picture, she stopped smiling. Her eyes bore into the camera accusingly, as if she could guilt the viewer into giving her hope— indeed, her eyes seemed devoid of it. Her clothes were ill-fitting and with every picture it was again apparent that less and less effort was put into her appearance in the photo, as if with every year she became more hopeless a commodity; unsellable to customers, unwanted.

In the last photograph, Lux glared at the camera with unhindered irritation, her eyes looked past the lens, like she was staring at someone who was giving her unwelcome news. Her blonde curls hung limp and she crossed her arms across her chest protectively. She might as well have been screaming "Don't touch me, don't talk to me."

Baze felt the guilt rise up in his chest like bile. How many new teeth did he miss? How many hospital visits? How could have one decision on his part made the anger, the hopelessness in her eyes disappear?

He scrolled down to the next page and paused. A list of names, sorted chronologically.

Larson  
Brown  
Stanley  
Wagner-Adams  
McCauley  
Gilbert  
Reese  
Foster

Foster homes. Baze felt sick. His daughter had never had a proper home; never settled down. He had met her once, seen her smile once— yet he felt a connection, like he had known her since her birth.

He snapped the phone shut as he heard the front door open and his daughter bounce into the house.

"Hey mom!" Taylor grinned and dropped her backpack on the floor. "Hey…Dad? What're you doing home?"

Baze did his best to mask his feelings. "Just decided to take a short day to spend some quality time with my favorite daughter," He said, reaching for her and tickling her sides, feeling instantly guilty as the words left his mouth. Lux wasn't there to hear them, but the feeling that he had somehow betrayed the poor girl he had basically abandoned engulfed him.

Taylor giggled and he set her down, hitting her gently on the bottom to propel her forward, knowing he would soon lose his composure. "Go finish your homework, bunny."

* * *

Lux's POV

The bell rang as she threw her backpack over the chain-linked fence and climbed over it.  
The cold metal cut her fingers but she ignored the pangs and sucked the blood off her thumb as she landed on the asphalt.  
The walk was an hour, but it was better than paying bus fair. Bug and Gavin would be pissed, but Tasha would get it; she had to save up every penny for, well, everything from food to make-up, but most importantly the court date for her emancipation. The more money, the larger the chance she would be allowed to finally leave the system.

That would be the best thing to ever happen to her, she mused, to leave the frickin' system and the frickin' social workers and every frickin' foster family out there.  
They could screw themselves for all she cared.

She was done.

Lux put her headphones on as she walked, tuning her little portable radio to a Morning Madness rerun. Other than Tasha, Bug, and Gavin, the early-morning show was the only thing that could bring her comfort; Cate's voice especially. She was honest, almost painfully so, and in the midst of a life in which people had lied to her, stolen the semblance of a childhood from her, Lux found Cate's dry humor and honesty a sort of lighthouse in the foggy anger of her life.

She barely realized she was standing at the doorstep of Bug and Gavin's apartment until her hand grasped the doorknob and she pulled the door out to enter the room that had the most resemblance to the thing most people would call home.

It was bare inside, but comforting, homely.

"Hey, Blondie, finally," Gavin chuckled and ruffled her hair with his elbow; his hands were covered in grey paint from his latest piece. Natasha looked up from her cold slice of pizza and glanced knowingly at her best friend.

"Hey, teachers been super watchful again?" She grinned winked at Lux, knowing that the boys would annoy her for walking instead of riding the bus.

"Yeah, they were super hard-ass today," Lux dumped her backpack near the door and grabbed Tasha's pizza out of her hand, taking a large bite before dumping it back on her best friend's plate. "Hey, Bug, how's the new job?"

The tattooed teen in question shrugged. He was seated on the tiny dilapidated couch, shirt thrown haphazardly across the floor. "Not that bad, actually," He acted nonchalant, but Lux could see right through him. This job excited him, and for a high-school drop out with only a GED, jobs that excited were few and far between. "The dude's named Nathaniel Bazile but he goes by Baze. He's a audiologist. I randomly show up at the interview and he's actually super cool— we went to get coffee and he told me his daughter was born deaf in one ear and— anyway, the pay's good, the job's not boring, and my boss is cool. I'm actually going to try to keep this one."

Baze… where had Lux heard that before? The name lurked at the back of her mind, nagging at her to remember.  
Ah, never mind, she decided. It didn't matter anyway; all that mattered was Bug. She had never seen him so excited about anything, let alone a job. It was difficult to see her tough, biker-y pseudo-brother working with small children to fix their hearing, but she figured if it made him happy, she was happy.  
"Hey, Lux?" Natasha's voice came from behind.  
"Yeah?"  
"How's the Foster's?"  
"Agh, the usual. It's been two months and freaking Stewie is just disgusting. The whole house is a dump… can't wait till they throw me back to Sunnyvale so I can live with you again."

The words were strong, but Natasha looked skeptical and Lux wasn't sure even emshe believed them. As much as she or Natasha hated every placement, it was always an unwelcome blow to the stomach when they were sent back to the girl's home; another reminder that they weren't wanted, another reminder that they didn't belong in a proper family— all they were worth was a government check; sometimes not even that.  
Luckily for her, Natasha let it go, sensing that Lux was not in the mood for a conversation about it.

"Hey, Blondie, when's the hearing?"

"5 months. You know that, Gav, you ask every day."

"Just wanted to check that you're on top of it."

"Gavin," Lux sighed in exasperation. "You know I'm frickin' on top of it. It's like, the moment I've been waiting for since forever , I'm not about to just forget about it. " In her annoyance, Lux had overlooked the tiny, sly grin on her pseudo-brother's face and the fact that Bug and Tasha had snuck up behind her.

"Yeah, I know, I know," Gavin finally laughed out loud, pointing a joking finger to the wall facing her back.

* * *

Tasha's POV

She couldn't contain her sporadic giggles that erupted as her best friend turned to face her in surprise; and she and her adopted brothers screamed "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!", making Lux smiled so widely Tasha could see her molars.

Sitting in Tasha's arms was a large frosted, decorated cake, the kind you have specially made at a bakery, with red lettering that spelled out " _Sweet 16_ " and a line underneath " _You're old now!_ "

Lux threw back her head and laughed out loud, and the look in her eyes was the most thanks Tasha needed.

All three of them understood; to Lux, it wasn't the fact that they spent money on a fancy cake or put in effort to surprise her, it was the simple fact that they remembered her birthday, and that they cared enough to let her know that they knew. Throughout the whole city filled with people who didn't care about the day Lux Cassidy was born, there were three who did.

And that was enough for her.

After 7 hours of stuffing their faces with cake, making fun of teachers, discussing life dreams, and going downtown to sneak into a movie theatre to talk loudly until they were thrown out, Bug and Gavin politely and brotherly kicked Lux and Tasha out of the apartment. They knew very well that if anyone knew that Lux and Tasha skipped school to hang out with high school dropouts, it would be bad news for all four of them.

Tasha wished she could stay, but not as much as she wished Lux could.  
Her best friend was one tough chick, but Tasha knew she was well overdue for a break down. She knew for a fact the last time Lux had let anyone see her vulnerable side, it was right after she was kicked out of the Gilbert's house two years ago. That day, Lux had broken down and sobbed in Tasha's arms, and the next her mask was back in place, if only shattered a little in one corner.

Now, Lux looked like she wanted to be anywhere else as she said a brief goodbye and went on her way, and Tasha knew that Lux hated the Foster's. It was difficult to get kicked out of a place like that, because there was no evidence of physical abuse and Mira Foster doted on her pervert of a son and refused to see any faults on his part (not to mention she wanted the money).

And Tasha hated, _hated_ that her sister had to return to a house in which the air was unbreathable and she didn't feel safe enough to undress, but she knew there was nothing she could do but wait. Tasha had a job, she had a place to stay (Bug and Gavin were lending her the money to rent an apartment until she got emancipated, when she would come to live with them), and her attendance was okay. Lux was… difficult; a hard case, and Tasha worried that the wrong news would break her.

Tasha vowed she would pick up the pieces.

* * *

Cate's POV

Cate couldn't understand what had caused her to change her mind.  
Before the case she was ready to face her first daughter and explain herself, but now she found her hands trembling in fear at the idea.

Foster care. Her daughter had been in foster care and there was nothing Cate could do about it. She wondered if meeting Fern had only reinforced the dark feeling in her chest she had harbored since she gave that baby up. It had always told her she made the wrong choice, she had abandoned her daughter and usually she ignored it but now the message pounded at her skull like a jackhammer.

She abandoned her daughter.  
She abandoned her daughter.  
She abandoned her daughter.  
She abandoned her daughter.

No matter which way she said it still incriminated her and left her to rot internally in shame. But she had to keep up her mask, keep it smooth so that Taylor wouldn't see anything.

How could she ever explain to her sweet sweet girl that she had gotten pregnant at 16 and left her first baby to the wolves of the foster system?  
How would Taylor ever be able to understand?  
Baze certainly didn't understand. She help that baby in her belly for nine months, and then put her in the arms of a stranger as soon as she took her first breath. He had a much smaller part in the abandonment of the child. He couldn't understand what she was feeling; he would never admit it.

Cate stood at the kitchen, chopping lettuce for dinner. Her eyes were fixed out the window, watching the cars roll by mindlessly.

It was the day after the meeting, and though Baze kept subtly hinting that they needed to talk about what they wanted to do, Cate couldn't bring herself to talk to him, let alone make a decision.

She knew that when it came down to it, she wouldn't be able to look Lux— _daughter_ — in the eyes.

Cate was so immersed in her thoughts she didn't hear Baze enter the kitchen and come up behind her.

"Are you trying to murder that lettuce?" His voice made her jump, placing a shaky palm over her racing heart.

"Baze! Don't scare me like that," She chided him with no real anger in her voice.

"Cate…" He gently took the knife from her hand and put it on the counter with a soft click. "Listen, I don't understand what you're feeling."

What? Out of all the things she expected him to say, that was not one of them. He wasn't one to tell the blind truth without filtering his mouth.

"But," He continued, holding up a finger to shush her when she opened her mouth. "I do understand you. You are so guilty that you can't see past what emhappened to see what emcould happen. We both left her. But now we have a chance to try to fix it. You can't tell me you don't want that."

"I do," She choked out. "But what can I say?"

"We both have to figure that out, yeah?" He smiled and took her chin in his hand tenderly. "But first, we need to find her."

When had her overgrown baby of a husband become so wise?

"Yes," Cate said. "We do."

And for the first time since the meeting with Fern, she smiled genuinely.  
At dinner, Cate was too occupied to say anything. Fortunately, Taylor took up most of the silence with meaningless gossip about school.

"And Sarah was all like, 'No, you're stupid', and then Max actually started crying!" She paused. "That's okay with me though, I don't like Max."

"Why not, hon?" Baze asked. To his credit, he was actually making an effort to follow the monologue.

Taylor looked down for a moment. "No reason," She said quietly. Cate's momma instincts jumped into high gear.

"Baby, it's not nothing. You know you can tell us anything? If he's doing something that makes you sad or uncomfortable you should tell us." Cate leaned forward and tilted Taylor's head up so she could look her in the eyes. "What happened, baby?"

"He-he makes fun of my hearing aid. He calls me T-1000 because he says I'm a deaf cyborg."

"Oh, honey," Baze knelt next to her and ran a hand through her hair. "He's an idiot, okay?"

"Taylor, you are smart, beautiful, and capable. If Max insults you, it's only because he's jealous."

"Of what?" Taylor scoffed. "Of the fact that I have metal and plastic sticking out of my ear?"

"No, honey. The fact that you can't hear in one ear just makes you unique. You can do anything that they can do, and more because you have perspective. Don't listen to him, okay?"

"Yeah, I guess," Taylor shrugged.

"No, honey, you don't guess," Cate gently said. "You know. You emknow that Max doesn't know what he's talking about, and you know that you have a Mom and a Dad that love you more than anyone and that you have friends like Sarah that know that Max is wrong."

Taylor nodded shyly.

"Do you want us to talk to Miss Samara about him?"

She shook her head vehemently. "No, I don't want to be a snitch."

"Okay," Cate conceded. "But if it goes on, you tell us, yes? And we will do something."

"Okay," Her daughter agreed. "Thanks guys."

"Baby, we love you," Baze kissed the crown of her head. "Now finish your carrots."

* * *

Lux's POV

Lux could see that Tasha was reluctant to let her go back to the Foster's by herself, but she smiled and shooed her away.  
She needed a minute or two alone before she stepped back into The House Of The Living Eww.

She waited ten minutes for the bus before deciding her patience had run out and began her way home on foot, ignoring the drops of water that fell on her head from the clouds.  
Lux usually eschewed walking home in the dark by herself to avoid druggies and creepers like the tall one on the bus yesterday, but today she was too tired to care.

She found herself wondering, like every birthday, where here parents were.

Were they rockstars who gave her up to protect her from the onslaught of reporter coverage?  
Maybe they were in trouble with the law or the mafia or something and wanted to protect her.

As much as those stories were appealing to Lux, she knew she couldn't linger on them.

The easiest and most likely explanation was also the hardest to stomach; the two humans who came together to create Lux just didn't want her.

It was fine as far as she was concerned.  
She had Tasha, Bug, and Gavin, and they were all she needed.

Lux suddenly stopped and glanced at her watch and realized that the sun had completely set and she had been walking for an hour and a half; the sprinkling had become pouring and she was completely drenched.  
She glanced around, trying not to panic as she didn't recognize a thing around her.  
She had no idea where she was in the dark city, surrounded by strangers and shadowy buildings.

Her heart rate picked up and her palms began to sweat uncontrollably. She found herself running in no particular direction in the fierce rain, crossing streets without glancing to the sides and turning random corners in a desperate attempt to find something familiar.

When the stitch in her side became almost unbearable she finally slowed down and looked at her surroundings.  
She was in a nice, clean neighborhood, the kind she had only lived in once or twice. She tried to gauge which house would be the most responsive to a teenager asking for directions at the early morning hour.

Definitely not the house with the Porsche, or the one with the baby toys scattered across the lawn; they were more likely to call the cops on her instead of offering help.

She finally stopped in front of a light blue painted house. There was a blue bike parked in front and a sign that spelled "Home is where the heart is".

Bingo.

She shut the lid on her doubts and stalked up the nice pathway, stationed herself in front of the door, took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

* * *

Baze's POV

After sending Taylor to bed and kissing her good night, Baze and Cate sat down on the couch and went through the pictures of Lux's file, sighing sadly at the hard life they had subjected her to unintentionally.

They stayed up late discussing how they would find her, when they would approach her, what they would say.

Baze could not deny that it was going to be weird. Lux was bound to react be disappointed, even react angrily, but he knew that he and his wife had to try.

He was nervous, scared even, but the urge to talk to her again overwhelmed his fear.

He was just about to suggest sleep to his wife when the doorbell rang.

Throwing a confused glance at Cate, he moved to answer the door, setting the printed out papers on the coffee table.

Before he could reach the knob, the bell rang twice more.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here," He said as he opened the door.

A teenage girl stared at him, soaked and visibly trying not to shiver.

"Umm, Baze, right?" She asked, moving her hands up and downs her upper arms to warm herself up. "Wow, helluva coincidence."

"Yeah," He said, finally finding his voice. "Can I— can I help you?"

"Umm, yeah, actually. Sorry, I'm just kinda lost and I was wondering if you could give me directions."

Baze couldn't answer. It was her.  
Oh god, it was her.

"Umm, hello?" She waved a hand in front of his eyes.

He nodded jerkily and cried, "Cate!" over his shoulder.

Lux stared at him, clearly uncomfortable again. She seemed to be deciding whether to run away or stay and continue the one-sided conversation. She was wearing the same faded jean jacket as the day before and had mascara tracks all down her face.

Cate finally came up behind him.

"Who is it, hon?"

He simply turned sideways so she could see the girl, and heard her intake of breath as she mentally compared the pictures to the girl in front of her.

"Umm. O-kay. Sorry for waking you up…" Lux began to back away, apparently deciding that they were too weird. "I'll just go now-"

"No!" Cate cut in. "No, no, it's fine. You need, uh, directions?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Oh, you must be freezing. Come in, come in." Cate's mother instincts were obviously kicking in as she took in the shivering girl on their doorstep.

"No, that's okay—" Lux's protest was cut off as Cate gently herded her into the house. "Hey, you're Cate Cassidy!"

The smile on Cate's face could light up the entire city. "Yeah! You like the show?"

"Listens to it every day," Baze smiled. "Right?"

Lux smiled thinly. "Mm-hm."

Both adults stared at her for a few awkward moments. Baze was struck by how much she reminded him of Taylor. With every moment, he could see that Lux was berating herself for approaching them.

"Sorry, uh," He woke himself out of his stupor. "Where you headed?"

"Would you like a cup of tea?" Cate asked at the same time.

Lux looked even more bewildered if it was possible. "Sure, I guess."

Cate made herself busy fixing the hot beverage as Baze let Lux sit on the couch and sat on the table opposite her. "So, where?"

"Umm, 2076 Blake Avenue. I just need directions."

"You want to get to the other side of town by yourself, on foot, in the rain?" Cate chided as she pressed the cup of tea into Lux's hands.

"Uh, yeah." The sass returned to her voice, challenging Cate to let the issue go.

Baze knew she wouldn't.

"Absolutely not," Cate said. "We'll give you a ride."

Lux stood up and set the tea down, panic in her eyes. "No, that's— that's not necessary. Thanks."

"No, no, we'd be bad people if we let you go by yourself." Baze tried to soothe her. "Sit, get warmed up. I'll change into something public-worthy."

Lux tried to smile as he went up the stairs, Cate following him closely.  
When they were safely out of earshot, Baze turned to Cate. "Oh my god."

"How do we tell her?"

"Oh. My. God." Baze couldn't think. His daughter had turned up by chance on his doorstep.

"Yes, Baze. We need to tell her, but she's— she's afraid of us."

"We'll fix that," He decided. "Yeah. We'll give her a place to stay for the night or something. We'll give her a reason to trust us. Then we'll figure out how to tell her. Wow, this is weird."

* * *

Lux's POV

She almost regretted it; these people were weird. But, refreshingly nice. It was strange to end up at Baze's house, but it almost made it easier, abolished the need for awkward introductions.

Hopefully, they weren't creepers.  
They didn't seem too freaky but she knew from experience that appearances were often deceiving.

A familiar paper caught her attention and her heart pounded. Yeah, appearances were deceiving.

Her file was spread out on the table.

They were stalking her or something.  
How the hell had they gotten her file?

Jeez, she had to get out of there.

She set her cup down and gathered up the papers, trying to exit silently.

A floorboard squealed under her sneakers.

Shit.

She heard footsteps down the stairs and ran to the door.

"What are you doing, Lux?" Cate Cassidy, her idol. God, life was twisted.

She spun around and brandished the papers angrily. "What are you doing, huh? What kind of creepy stalkers are you?"

The woman advanced slowly, and Lux could swear there were tears in her eyes. Baze followed closely, his hands out soothingly like he was trying to calm a scared animal.

"Lux, listen—" He started. "We're—"

"How did you get this?" She shouted. "How—"

"Lux. We're your parents." Cate blurted out.  
The room was silent for a few long moments.

The blonde girl's eyes were wide and filled to the brim with tears. "My… my what?"

 **Sorry this is so late guys, but I hope you like :)**  
 **Review please!**


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